Lisztomania
by Hyperactive Lioness
Summary: Suki confronts Zuko about the burning of Keyoshi Island while hunting near the Western Air temple. Some Zuki friendship, a songfic for Phoenix's "Lisztomania".


**New oneshot! The word "Lisztomania" actually refers to a pianist named Liszt, whom girls would scream over and generally cause "mania" when he would play the piano. I just twisted it for my Avatar use ;)**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Avatar, or the song "Lisztomania" by Phoenix.**

**

* * *

**

**Lisztomania**

"I'm going hunting," Zuko called back to the group of people a few days after he and Sokka had rescued Hakoda and Suki from the Fire Nation prison. "Anybody want to come?" He expected nobody to take him up on the offer; hunting was usually thought of as a chore in the Avatar camp.

"Wait up!" A girl's voice came suddenly, just as Zuko was about to climb down the cliff's face. "I'll come." It was Suki, Sokka's girlfriend. Ignoring Sokka's noises of protest, she arose from where she was sitting by the fire and joined Zuko.

"I don't think he wants you to go," Zuko deadpanned, referring to the Water Tribe boy, who was motioning anxiously for Suki to stay. She stuck out her tongue in his direction.

"He'll get over it." She swung her legs around the rope and quickly slid to the ground, Zuko coming after her. With one last glance at the upside-down Western Air temple, Suki followed the firebender into the forest.

XxXxX

"What are we hunting, exactly?"

Zuko quickly glanced back at the Keyoshi warrior's voice. They had been walking in silence for the last half-hour, and he had presumed she was still angry about the attack on her island. "I remember a group of moose-lions living here, but that was a long time ago. They might have either died out or multiplied, I don't know."

Suki was silent once again. Zuko sighed softly. This was going to be one long hunting trip.

XxXxX

Zuko lifted his head, instantly alert. There was music coming from somewhere, soft and quiet, but music nonetheless. His golden eyes narrowed as his ears strained, and then he remembered the girl garbed in red, walking behind him.

A quick glance at Suki confirmed his suspicions; she was humming, red lips pressed together, feet pounding the ground to a strange beat, hazel eyes fixed ahead. As Zuko turned his gaze to the forest in front of him, the warrior began to sing quietly, as if she was loathe to let the exiled prince hear her, but wanted to sing anyway.

_"So sentimental, not sentimental, no, romantic not discussing it, darling, I'm down and lonely... When were the fortunate only? I've been looking for something else, too late, too late, too late, she'll be late, too late, too late..."_

Zuko coughed, and the singing halted. "Um, Suki? What was that you were just, uh, singing?" She quickened her pace and was soon walking beside him.

"The Keyoshi warriors used to sing it while training," she answered coldly. "To sing while engaged in combat or some other physical activity's good for the stamina." Zuko nodded.

"That's interesting. You don't have to stop singing, I was just curious." She fixed him with a calculating stare, which he met evenly. A copper-colored eyebrow quirked, and her mouth opened once more.

_"So go slowly, discourage... Distant from other interests on your favorite weekend, ending this love for gentlemen only, that's where the fortunate only... No, I gotta be someone else, these days it comes, it comes, it comes, it comes, it comes and goes..."_

"How old is that song?" Zuko questioned when he heard a pause in the fast-paced words.

"Some of the elders in my village say that Avatar Keyoshi herself began the tradition of singing and fighting," Suki answered quietly. "Other then that, I have no idea how old this song is."

_"A lisztomania, think less but see it grow, like a riot, like a riot, oh! Not easily offended, know how to let it go, from the mess to the masses...__A lisztomania, think less but see it grow, like a riot, like a riot, oh! Not easily offended, know how to let it go, from the mess to the masses..."_

"What's a lisztomania?"

"You sure are full of questions today, Zuko." There was a lengthy silence.

"Sorry."

After another silence, Suki replied. "You don't have to apologize all of the time. _Sorry _Katara, _sorry_ Aang, _sorry_ Toph. I think we all get the picture, you're _sorry_." She stomped ahead to walk in front of him.

_"Follow, misguide, stand still," _Suki sang, her voice both louder and harsher. _"Discuss, discourage on this precious weekend, ending this love for the gentlemen only, wealthiest gentlemen only... Now that you're lonely, too late, too late, too late, she'll be late, too late, too late..."_

"But I've never apologized to you," Zuko raised his voice to be heard over her singing, which abruptly was silenced. She spun to face him, her hazel eyes glassy with unshed tears.

"You have good reason to apologize to me," she hissed. "You burned down half of my village. _This song_ was what was going through my head as I was fighting you. Do you have any idea of the damage you have caused?"

For a fleeting moment, the face Zuko saw was of his uncle, then it vanished to reveal the bared teeth and accusing eyes of the Keyoshi warrior. Zuko hung his head.

"No, honestly, I don't."

"Well, believe me, there was a lot of it." She stomped away, and Zuko followed.

_"So go slowly, discourage... We'll burn the pictures instead, when it's all over we can barely discuss for one minute only, not where the fortunate only... But I better be something else, these days it comes, it comes, it comes, it comes, it comes and goes..."_

"Why did you do it?"

Zuko stopped in his tracks, almost bumping into Suki. "Huh?" She turned around slowly, a strange emotion on her face.

"Why did you burn down Keyoshi Island?"

"I was searching for the Avatar..." Zuko drifted off and then cringed, awaiting the inevitable explosion from the girl, but it never came. "Suki? I really do regret what I've done. Will you please forgive me?"

The Keyoshi warrior sighed. "Part of me wants to pummel you into the ground for all the pain you caused, not just to _my _people, but to the world. But another part of me is saying to bury the hatchet, to forgive and move forward." Zuko waited while she bowed her head, and then met his gaze firmly, and smiled.

"I forgive you, Zuko."

He smiled as well. "Thank you, Suki."

"Well, you _do _deserve something for helping to rescue me back at the Boiling Rock."

"I suppose I do."

"Now don't get _too _cocky, mister."

They began walking again, reminded that they were supposed to be hunting. They walked side-by-side, now happy for each other's company.

___A lisztomania, think less but see it grow, like a riot, like a riot, oh! Not easily offended, know how to let it go, from the mess to the masses...__A lisztomania, think less but see it grow, like a riot, like a riot, oh! Not easily offended, know how to let it go, from the mess to the masses..."_

"You never did tell me what a lisztomania is," Zuko commented. Suki looked thoughtful.

"Liszt was a powerful, loudmouthed earthbender in Keyoshi's time," she said eventually. "As legend goes, _he _was a legend, himself. People would start riots just to get close to him, while girls would scream and swoon, hoping to be earthbended into his arms. Apparently he was arrogant enough to challenge Keyoshi to an earthbending duel, which she won because of her inability to not be fazed by his offending comments, which were the downfall of his other opponents. "Lisztomania" is a common term on Keyoshi Island, for something that causes a big riot and commotion."

Zuko was quiet.

_"Oh... This is show time, this is show time, this is show time... Oh, this is your town, this is your town, this is your town... Time, time is your love, time is your love, yes, time is your... Time, time is your love, time is your love, time is your love..."_

"Did I cause a lisztomania?" he finally asked. Suki glanced up, startled.

"Yeah, you did, I guess. You kind of have a talent for that kind of thing." Zuko frowned, and Suki smiled and finished the Keyoshi warrior fighting song.

_"From the mess to the masses, a lisztomania, think less but see it grow, like a riot, like a riot, oh! Discuss, discuss, discuss, discuss, discuss, discuss, discourage!" _As the last note faded away, the two came upon a mother moose-lion, on her side with three cubs nuzzling her stomach. Zuko unsheathed his Dao swords, but paused when he saw Suki's face. He slipped the swords back into their scabbard.

"We're not eating meat tonight, are we?"

Suki shook her head, and the two warriors crept away, not disturbing the animals any further. Suki smiled at the firebender.

"And Zuko, causing a lisztomania or two in your lifetime isn't a bad thing. You've caused quite a few good ones since you've joined us." He glanced down at her, and the first real smiled she had ever seen from the exiled prince split his face.

"Sokka's sure going to cause one when he finds out we didn't bring back any meat."

* * *

**There you have it! I might do a just-Zuko songfic tomorrow.**

**REVIEW, PLEASE!**

**:Hyperactive Lioness:**


End file.
